


Somehow, the Dragons Just Know

by apollonious



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Childbirth, F/M, Gen, Pregnancy, saturday is dragon day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 23:10:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21005711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apollonious/pseuds/apollonious
Summary: On their way back to New Berk, Hiccup makes a deduction that will change their little family forever.Let's be honest, this is just very fluffy.





	Somehow, the Dragons Just Know

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by two things I saw on Tumblr: speculation that the third Night Light suggested Hiccup and Astrid would also have a red-headed son, and a wolf sanctuary where guests were asked before they met the wolves, "If you're pregnant, do you want to know?" I don't remember who made either of these posts, for which I apologize.

It’s halfway back to New Berk before Astrid comes down enough from the exhilaration of seeing Stormfly again—of _flying_ again—to notice that Hiccup is gazing steadily at her from his place at the tiller. There’s a light in his eyes that is deeply familiar, despite the fact that she hasn’t seen it in nigh on a decade, but there’s something contemplative too.

“What?” Astrid asks, smiling.

Hiccup shrugs, looking away from her out over the waves. “I was just thinking—I don’t think we’ve ever seen a dragon in close proximity to a pregnant person before. At least, not with said person as its rider.”

Astrid laughs. “What are you suggesting? I’m not—”

“Didn’t it seem like Stormfly was acting kind of weird?” exclaims Hiccup.

“Well, yeah, but I haven’t seen her in years,” says Astrid.

“And I haven’t seen Toothless in just as long, but he didn’t act any differently toward me.”

“But how would she even know? Besides, I’m not—at least, I don’t think…”

“Come on, Astrid,” Hiccup says, laughing. “How long ago was your last—”

“Hiccup!” Astrid hisses, looking toward the kids. But they aren’t listening; they’ve been running around the deck of the ship, shouting and whooping, since the dragons dropped them off.

“I’m not sure,” she says after a moment. She supposes it’s possible; it’s not as though she and Hiccup have been trying to prevent her from having another baby. 

There’s a very specific look that Hiccup gets on his face when he gets it into his head that she’s pregnant, whether it’s from her telling him or his own bizarre dragon-whispering skills. It’s full of joy and love, so much so that she swears she can see tears welling up, but also worry that never seems to dissipate, even despite the two successful pregnancies that have led to happy, healthy children. Of course, there was one pregnancy—shortly after Zephyr was born—that ended in sorrow after only a couple of months, but Astrid doesn’t like to think about that. It’s the only time she’s ever seen Hiccup’s grief prevent him from fulfilling his duties as chief.

Almost despite herself, Astrid finds her hand resting on her lower belly. She hasn’t been having morning sickness, but then, it usually isn’t too bad for her. Besides, if she is pregnant, it’s still too early for such signs. 

Astrid meets Hiccup’s gaze again. “I’ll talk to your mom when we get home,” she says. A moment of sadness passes between them—Gothi, the village elder who was present at both their births, who married them, and who had helped bring both their children into the world, passed away just last year.

There is a small thump, and the kids’ shouting stops. Astrid looks over to see Nuffink lying on his stomach, just off-center of the deck, breathing peacefully. It would appear that he has tired himself out. Zephyr is standing over him, panting.

Hiccup is still wearing that singular, slightly thunderstruck expression. Astrid knows that he would be kissing her did he not need to stay at the tiller of the ship. So she goes to him, taking his face in her hands, and kisses him warmly. When she pulls away, she can see she was right about the tears welling up, as there is now a tear rolling down each of Hiccup’s cheeks. Suddenly a little choked up herself, she wipes them away with her thumbs. 

“It’s been a big day,” she says.

Hiccup nods mutely. 

A small, solid warmth hits Astrid’s legs as Zephyr hugs her just above the knee. “Mommy, are you going to have another baby?” she asks. 

Now there is an edge of panic in Hiccup’s eyes—the same panic that Astrid can feel in herself. They have not had this talk with their daughter, nor do they plan to for a good long while. 

“Maybe,” Astrid says. “It’s still a little early to be certain.”

“How do you know it’s early?” asks Zephyr. 

Astrid and Hiccup exchange another look. 

“What did you think of those dragons, Zephyr?” Hiccup asks.

Zephyr stands there for a moment, a dubious look on her face. She is clever enough, even at seven, to realize when her father is changing the subject—and, more importantly, to at least guess as to why. She allows it, but even as she begins to enthuse about the dragons she has just met, laughing in delight, Astrid can see the wheels turning in her head as she plots how she will bring it up once more.

* * *

When Astrid broaches the topic with Valka after their return the next morning, Valka is slightly skeptical, but fascinated all the same. It has been so long since she was able to investigate odd dragon behavior that, quite apart from the possibility of another grandchild, she is utterly ecstatic to be having this conversation. Astrid had nearly forgotten how much Valka reminds her of Hiccup when talking about dragons, but that familiarity all comes rushing back as they speak.

“And you had no idea before now?” Valka asks.

Astrid shakes her head. “None.”

Valka chuckles. “I must say, I’m a little surprised that Hiccup’s mind went straight to another baby.”

Astrid grins. “I’m not. He loves being a dad. Sometimes, especially now that Zephyr’s starting to get older, I think it reminds him of having Toothless.”

Valka nods thoughtfully. “I had a similar experience, just in reverse.” Not for the first time, Astrid finds herself imagining what it might have been like if Valka hadn’t disappeared and she and Stoick had had more children. Valka is uniquely suited to wrangling large broods; it’s made her an excellent help to Hiccup as well as a dragon lady. It probably would have helped with a big family, if she’d had the chance to have it.

Valka sees the look on Astrid’s face, and her eyes drift down to where Astrid has once more unconsciously placed a hand on her belly. 

“On one level,” says Valka musingly, “I have always wished I had more time with Stoick and Hiccup. I would have liked to have more children. I even thought, just for a moment—” She shakes her head. “But I had my dragons. And who knows how things would have turned out if Hiccup had had someone who listened to him about Toothless sooner.”

“I listened to him,” Astrid says. “I was the first.”

Valka nods. “Though it did take a minor kidnapping.”

Astrid smiles sheepishly, and Valka pats her on the back. “Given the timing, a pregnancy seems likely. You should go home and rest for the day; you’ve done a lot of traveling, and having your feet up for a bit will do you good.”

“I am kind of tired,” Astrid admits.

A smile curls Valka’s lips. She kisses Astrid on the forehead. “Go rest. I’ll make sure Hiccup does too. It sounds like he’ll need some time to process yesterday, and even these louts can get along for one more day without him.”

Astrid nods and thanks Valka, then walks along the path from Valka’s hut to her and Hiccup’s house. Nobody stops her, for which she is grateful.

The kids are nowhere in sight when she gets home, nor is her husband. She sighs contentedly at the peace, then pads up to their bedroom. 

After the dragons left, Astrid and Hiccup’s thoughts had turned to marriage beyond the abstract, someday sort of way they’d considered it up to that point. Or Astrid’s had—she supposed Hiccup’s had probably been there for a while before that. Hiccup had poured all his spare time for months into carving a massive bed, putting the final touches on it only the night before the wedding. Now Astrid stands in the doorway looking at it, at the great tree in the center of the headboard, the dragons, unmistakably a Deadly Nadder and a Night Fury, that circle it, and the countless tiny stars scattered across the wooden surface. All the time, love, and attention that Hiccup had once given Toothless had been put into the bed, and in this moment Astrid is moved by that all over again. She curls up on her side of the bed, looking at the tree, the dragons, and the stars until she slowly dozes off. 

She is woken by the creak of a spring on the landing behind her, followed by a muttered curse from her husband. “Gotta fix that,” says Hiccup as he sits heavily on the bed, his back to her. Astrid turns over and reaches out, making him jump as her fingers brush his spine. He twists, looking over his shoulder at her. 

“I thought you were asleep,” he says. 

“I was,” says Astrid, her slightly rueful smile widening at the sheepish look on Hiccup’s face. 

He lies down on his back beside her and lets out a long, sighing breath that verges onto a groan toward the end. “Gods, I’m stiff,” he says. “I forgot how much effort flying takes.”

Astrid runs his hand over his abdomen, where she figures the worst of the soreness has to be. He’s started to develop some breadth since Nuffink was born, not really fat so much as just solid-ness, but he’d started losing his compact, wiry musculature quite quickly after Toothless’ departure. Astrid hadn’t been sure, at the time, how to handle the resulting insecurity, since his physical appearance wasn’t generally something Hiccup worried about—or, for that matter, had needed to worry about for quite some time. With Toothless gone, there was simply nothing in Hiccup’s life that could match the physical exertion that flying with him had demanded. Carving their bed certainly hadn’t, and even the most physical of Hiccup’s duties as chief were demanding in ways that flight hadn’t been. Astrid’s body changed too, of course, if not as dramatically, and they’d been able to work through it together. 

Hiccup sighs at her touch and opens his eyes to look at her. The light that filled his eyes after the flight yesterday is still there, though Astrid knows it will fade in time. He smiles at her, and she props herself up on one elbow to lean over and kiss him. 

“I talked to your mom,” she says when she pulls back.

That singular expression returns, and coupled with the dragon-joy, she thinks it might be one of the most beautiful things she’s ever seen. “And?” he says, trying to sound nonchalant and failing utterly. “What’d she say?”

She feels her lips curling in a smile. “She thinks it’s likely.”

He grins. “How far along?” 

“It’s hard to say for sure,” she says. “Two, maybe three months. Still a bit early to tell anyone.” She says the last bit to caution him—to caution them both, really. This pregnancy could still very well fail, and it will be harder to deal with the more people know.

Hiccup nods, a serious note in his face, reminding her that he has never had a problem keeping secrets. Then he grins again and pulls her down to kiss her in a way he never would have in front of the kids. Eventually, they end up curled up on their sides, talking and simply looking at each other, happy in this moment both as husband and wife and as the dragon riders they once were.

* * *

Some six months later, Astrid awakens to a jolt that is instantly recognizable. She sits up in bed, trying to time out how long it is until the next one, and is startled at how little the intervening time is. She gasps at the contraction and wakes Hiccup with a smack to his shoulder.

“Go get your mother,” she says in a rough whisper when he looks up at her, his eyes already alert. 

He is out of bed in an instant, pulling on his pants and his prosthetic leg as he goes. He grabs his shirt from its peg on the wall and disappears out the bedroom door. She is thankful that he doesn’t question her; she knows it’s early just as well as he does. As his footsteps fade downstairs, Astrid throws the blanket aside. She’s wearing a wool nightgown that flaps against her legs as she stands. Halfway to the cupboard in the hall where they keep their spare blankets, she freezes for a moment as she feels warm liquid pour down the insides of her thighs. She grabs an old blanket to put under herself and an extra that she drops on the wet spot on the floor on her way back to the bed. She partially unfolds the other and lays it on the floor by her side of the bed. As she does, another contraction sends her to her knees, panting and holding on to the edge of the bed. 

That is how Hiccup and Valka find her when they return moments later. They each take an arm and help her sit on the bed. Valka kneels where Astrid had been a moment before. 

“Daddy?” calls a small voice. 

Hiccup looks at Astrid anxiously, and she nods. He vanishes for a moment, then comes back in, shutting the door behind him. “They’ll be fine,” he says. He stokes the coals in the small hearth, giving them some light to work with as the flames pick back up.

Together, Hiccup and Valka help Astrid stand. Hiccup holds Astrid’s hands, arms, shoulders to help her brace. They end up with both of them kneeling, Astrid leaning into Hiccup’s chest with her fists balled up in the back of his shirt. By now she is naked, the nightgown having been tossed onto the bed in a moment of transition, but there is no room for shyness here. 

Astrid has never been one for loud distress, and that hasn’t changed in childbirth. The next few hours are not quiet by any means, but it is heavy breathing and grunts of effort from Astrid and encouragements from Valka that fill the room, not screams as Astrid has heard on plenty of occasions. This is a rare occasion where Hiccup stays quiet, for which Astrid is grateful. His hands are firm and supportive on her back, for which she is even more so.

As the dawn breaks, Astrid gives a mighty push and a cry that she muffles in Hiccup’s shoulder. The baby’s cry, loud, squalling, and shrill, is not muffled as the child slides into Valka’s waiting hands.

“It’s a boy,” Valka says behind Astrid, and despite her exhaustion, Astrid smiles into Hiccup’s chest. He presses a kiss into the hair at the crown of her head. 

“I’ll run and get the water from Eret,” Hiccup says. 

“Eret’s here?” Astrid says breathlessly, loosening her fists from Hiccup’s shirt. He stands and rushes out the door. 

“He was getting a stomach remedy when Hiccup came in,” Valka says. Astrid isn’t watching, but she knows the steps: businesslike, Valka ties off the umbilical cord with two short strands of wool. She holds her knife in the fire for a few seconds and then slices through the cord between the two ties. 

Hiccup comes back in, carrying a basin of gently steaming water. He gives Valka a cloth, and she begins cleaning the baby while Hiccup helps Astrid. His hands are gentle, as they always are, and the water washes away the blood and sweat of the last few hours. He helps her back into bed, and a moment later Valka is approaching with the now quiet baby, a swaddling cloth over her shoulder. The first thing Astrid sees of her new son is his hair, a shock of fiery red. 

This step is not strictly necessary, as it’s not likely either of them will deny the child, but the ceremony of it is important. Hiccup takes the little boy and swaddles him on the bed next to Astrid’s knees with practiced ease, marking his acceptance. He holds the baby out to Astrid, and she takes the boy. He fusses for a moment before she lifts him to her breast. He latches and begins sucking greedily, and Astrid meets Hiccup’s eyes. They smile, forgetting everything else. Well, almost everything—Astrid winces as the baby adjusts his grip.

“I’ll leave you three,” Valka says, and does so, taking the basin of pink-tinged water with her.

As the door shuts, Hiccup sits on the side of the bed. “Wow. He’s, uh, really going for it, isn’t he?”

Astrid laughs a little through her nose. “He’s hungry.” Her gaze lingers on the baby, and when she looks at Hiccup, his eyes are on her face. 

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he says. 

She smiles and looks back at the baby, whose eyelids are beginning to droop. She eases her breast from his mouth and simply holds him as he falls asleep. Hiccup has watched her give birth three times, and each time he’s said that.

“Do you have an idea for a name?” Hiccup asks. 

Astrid does, though she has a feeling he does too. “I named the last one,” she says. “What do you think?”

Hiccup hesitates a moment before he suggests, “Stoick?”

The baby manages to get a fist out of the swaddling and waves it around in his sleep.

Astrid meets Hiccup’s eyes and nods, smiling. It’s the same thought she had when she saw the baby’s hair. “Your mom will like that.”

Hiccup grins, his eyes bright. “She’ll like any healthy grandson, no matter his name. But I’m sure she’ll be pleased.”

“Do you want to hold him?” Astrid asks, and Hiccup nods enthusiastically. She hands little Stoick over and finds her nightgown, easing it back over her head. She scoots down so she is lying on her back and watches her husband and son.

She feels her eyelids slowly drift shut as she gazes at Hiccup holding their youngest child. Her last thought before she falls asleep is how much he looks like the sort of chief his father would have wanted him to be.

When she opens her eyes again, it is to see Hiccup’s sleeping face turned toward her. Little Stoick is lying facedown on his father’s bare chest, the swaddling cloth from earlier replaced by a diaper that is the first of many hand-me-downs he will wear. Hiccup is sleeping silently, as he usually does, but the baby is giving tiny, grunting snores as he rises and falls with Hiccup’s breath. Astrid is seized by the impulse to scoop the child up, but that would almost certainly wake him, for which neither he nor Hiccup would thank her. So she just lies there quietly, staring at her baby’s face. 

She doesn’t notice Hiccup wake up, which causes her to jump when her eyes drift up and she sees his green eyes looking at her. He grins, but manages to stifle the laugh that would have woken the child. 

“You changed him?” she whispers. 

He nods. “I thought it was better to let you sleep.”

She smiles. “Thanks.”

Gently, carefully, Hiccup eases the baby off of his chest and lays him down on the bed between them. It is where he will sleep until he is old enough to walk on his own. Their children are part of the first generation in a long, long time that will not have to sleep separately in case of a dragon attack.

Hiccup pushes himself up on one elbow and looks at their faces. 

“What?” asks Astrid, beginning to smile at him.

Hiccup gives a slow grin in return. “You’re beautiful.”

Astrid feels a blush rise to her cheeks.

“How are you feeling?” asks Hiccup.

“Sore,” says Astrid truthfully. Looking down, she sees that he blankets and linens on their bed have been changed and that she is wearing a different nightie. “I must have been really out of it.”

Hiccup chuckles. “Mom and I were able to change the bedding around you.”

“Where are the kids?” Astrid asks. “The older kids,” she amends in response to Hiccup’s raised eyebrow.

“With Mom and Eret,” he says. 

“Was Eret really there for a stomach remedy?” Astrid asks, smirking. 

Hiccup shrugs. “I didn’t pry. I figured if that wasn’t the reason he was at my mom’s house in the middle of the night, I probably didn’t want to know. Plus, I was in a bit of a hurry.”

“That’s fair,” Astrid says. She sits up against the headboard and scoops up little Stoick, cradling him against her chest. 

“Do you want me to go get Zephyr and Nuffink so they can meet their little brother?” Hiccup asks.

“In a bit,” Astrid says. She looks down at him, and though she cannot see it, a rather singular expression is spreading over her own face. 

Hiccup sits and leans over. When he kisses her, she smiles against his lips and feels him smiling too. The baby stirs against her chest, and she thinks she can feel her heart swelling with love and joy.

Hiccup pulls away at the baby’s movement, but she pulls him back in for one more kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love a review if you feel like it.


End file.
